


Crossing swords

by Kaesteranya



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-03
Updated: 2011-05-03
Packaged: 2017-10-18 22:43:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/194103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaesteranya/pseuds/Kaesteranya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Restore this hotel and withdraw your men, or I’ll bite you to death.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crossing swords

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the word prompt “intelligence”, and it serves as my very sad attempt to give 10018 some sort of semi-canonical encounter. It takes place sometime during the period where Hibari’s supposedly out of Japan before he turns up to rescue Yamamoto and Gokudera from Gamma.
> 
> The title is taken from the 31 Days theme for March 19, 2008.

They meet on the battlefield of a different sort, one that Hibari absolutely deplores and Byakuran is only too comfortable in: the lobby of a hotel rumored to be the spot of many trade-offs between the Foundation and its business partners in the past. Suffice to say, those meetings had come to a complete stop the moment the Millefiore had bought the place out and Byakuran himself had taken to occupying the table that Foundation members – or more accurately, the Foundation’s leader – used to sit on whenever he was in the area. The silver-haired man is there at that moment, gaze on the terraced gardens and pools in the middle of the hotel compound, steadily working his way through the bowl of gourmet marshmallows set in front of him. Exactly fifteen minutes pass before he feels a slight shift in the air (a disturbance, brought about by small and quiet wings), and he looks away from the scenery to discover that he is no longer alone.

 

“Restore this hotel and withdraw your men, or I’ll bite you to death.”

 

“Have a marshmallow first.”

 

Hibari Kyouya feels no need to adhere to any sense of protocol and proper breeding and could therefore attack him without a moment’s thought, but somehow, Byakuran only cares enough to allow himself to be amused by that, and the fact that in the end, in spite of all the words and the looks, he knows that Hibari is not going to do it. Wild as he appeared to be to most, the Cloud Guardian of the Vongola was a smart man – he would only move when it was time for him to do so. Byakuran has deliberately set things up to make sure that things were somewhere between far too late and a little too soon.

 

“You know,” Byakuran remarks in a voice that’s closer to a purr more than anything else, “that bird of yours ruins your image. It’s hard to be intimidated by a man with a soft spot for fluffy woodland creatures.” He sets his gaze on the yellow fluffball perched on Hibari’s shoulder and pretends not notice the way the man bristles up, in a gesture very much akin to what was rumored to be his box animal of choice.

 

“Don’t mock me.”

 

“Mock you? I’m merely stating a fact. Anyway, you really should try one of these. They’re very good.”

 

Byakuran reaches over, fishing out another marshmallow from the bowl and squeezing it briefly between two fingers before eating it whole. Hibari’s eyes – shadowed and narrowed and blue – watch his every move.

 

“I can destroy every last one of you.”

 

“You’re welcome to try.”

 

A gamble, based on a bare assumption and a series of seemingly unconnected events and observations. Byakuran is rather fond of gambling – risk is the only real source of entertainment that he can get his hands on, given the fact that he is forced to meticulously plan everything else. He takes a perverse amount of pleasure in throwing his hand and coming off on top in the end, and in noting, through their small gestures and their occasional silence, how his opponents had to admit defeat and let go. The higher up they were, the better the thrill, and there weren’t a lot of people as high up as Hibari Kyouya was.

 

By the time members of the White Spell have heard of the security breach and come around to protect their leader from one very vicious Cloud Guardian, Hibari is turning, rising from his seat, shouldering past the men crowding him in order to take his leave. Byakuran only shakes his head when the commander of the squadron brandishes his weapon and sends him an inquiring look. He figures that he can afford to let Hibari walk away and leave the hotel alive. It was bound to make things infinitely more interesting for him in the future.


End file.
